517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team MailCall No. 2363 July 16, 2017 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company MailCall News From: https://www.facebook.com/QuartermasterSchool/posts/1619323858098067 2nd Battalion XO, Tom Cross. Once a Rigger, always a Rigger. The son of COL (Ret) Thomas R. Cross who designed the first Parachute Rigger badge in 1948, sent our QM Museum a photo of COL Cross still wearing his distinctive red rigger hat at age 98. MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 1 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team on 517TH Family and Friends Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1472895329686741/ From Valerie Szakacs Heyden: My father Elmer Szakacs was in the 596th Engineer Company. He's in the passenger's seat of the jeep. Note: The vehicle is a German Schwimmwagen MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 2 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team I ran across a story in the paper the other day that related to a former 442nd RCT member. That brought back a memory from years ago. I don't know if I ever related it in an earlier in MailCall.. There were safe locations set up where wounded and others could be placed. It was called rear- echelon. Field kitchens were usually operating there and food could be hauled up to the troops in insulated containers. The unpleasant tasks such as washing pots and pans, peeling potatoes, hauling water for washing mess kits, etc. were usually assigned to our German prisoners. They didn't mind because it assured them of good meals. On one occasion some members from the 442nd Anti-Tank company were going through the chow-line for breakfast. The English speaking German, when seeing the 442 members, asked, "Japanese prisoners.?" The response was, "No, hasn't Hitler told you? They've given up and are now fighting with us." There were many puzzled looks on the other German prisoners serving food in the chow-line when the English speaking German translated the response. Merle McMorrow Glad to see Iron Mike is back and to know the source of the rocks he is standing on --- Mt. Currahee! How fitting. Pat Seitz I came across this old training org chart I have for my brother Ismael Ramos Co H historical file. I am not sure if I have shared this with you for the 517th archives. All I have are these two pages. I found him on the ship returning from Europe H Company manifest page 19 #199 [ http://www.517prct.org/documents/madawaska_victory/Madawaska_Victory_August_20_1945.pdf ] Anything else of interest? Keep of the great work you still are providing I follow each edition. They are almost gone. I am getting there too. Frank Ramos MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 3 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 4 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 5 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team Hi Bob; Not sure this will be of much, if any, interest to those who visit the 517th website. I came across this thesis from a student at the Command & General Staff College while noodling through their digital library. I didn't realize Gen. Zais Commanded the 101st at the time the ball for Ap Bia mountain (aka "Hamburger Bill") was fought. It's an comparative study of his time during the Battle for Ap Bia and what the 517th went through in the vicinity of Sospel. Hope you are well. Thanks! Mark Landreth I included a few excerpts on the following pages. The full document, 56 pages, is on the website at: Major General Melvin Zais and Hamburger Hill MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 6 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team 14. ABSTRACT Major General Melvin Zais, a second generation Russian American, orchestrated the battle between the 29th Regiment of the People’s Army of Vietnam and the 101st Airborne Division around Dong Ap Bia (Hamburger Hill), Vietnam. General Zais, focused operations on and around Hamburger Hill to prevent build up of men, weapons, and supplies in the A Shau Valley which would have allowed for VC and NVA forces to conduct another Tet Offensive. As General Zais developed the situation in Thau Thien Provence, similarities can be drawn to an offensive he assisted in coordinating within southern France in World War II. This familiarity in size of terrain, enemy presence, and friendly tactical actions assisted Zais in his understanding of the situation, and conducting continuous assaults up the 937 meters of Dong Ap Bia to destroy the 29th Regiment of the People’s Army of Vietnam, and prevent the perceived threat of another Tet Offensive. Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais’s experience as an airborne regimental executive officer in southern France during World War II prepared him for the struggles he later faced as the commander of the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. As a regimental executive officer, then Lt. Col. Melvin Zais, assisted in leading the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, the “Battling Buzzards,” against German fortified positions in the mountains of the Maritime Alps.5 Allied boundary adjustments provided a seam that the veteran German 34th Infantry Division, fresh from northern Italy, was able to exploit as it reoccupied the high ground around Col de Braus, resulting in an uphill slugfest to secure the town and surrounding area.6 General Zais was reminded of the fight for Col de Braus as the 101st Airborne advanced into the A Shau Valley and the high terrain around Dong Ap Bia to defeat North Vietnamese forces that had reoccupied the valley. The rigorous conditions, a determined and entrenched enemy, and the reliance upon combined arms maneuver laid the foundation for the major engagement Major General Zais orchestrated in the jungles of Vietnam. Unlike Vietnam however, the loss of life to secure Col de Braus had operational linkages to securing the eastern flank of the US VI Corps, and opening the heavily defended Sospel Valley and northern Italy, setting the stage for the strategic goal of liberating Italy, entrance to the so- called “soft underbelly of Europe,” and exposing the German heartland along two fronts.7 In contrast, the actions at Hamburger Hill killed numerous North Vietnamese soldiers, but had no operational linkages to other objectives outside of the A Shau Valley. Finally, the objective itself, Hill 937, did not have any strategic importance tied to winning the war in Vietnam. MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 7 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team To begin understanding the rationale for the decisions General Zais made, it is beneficial to first attempt to understand the man who made the decisions. Melvin Zais was a first-generation Russian-American, his father having arrived in the United States in 1892 as a Russian refugee when he was twelve years old.12 Being from modest roots and with equally modest income, the family settled in a Fall River, Massachusetts neighborhood that was rough and wild, resulting in Zais’s introduction and participation in numerous street fights. Though the Zais family’s fortunes improved and then declined with the Depression, Melvin Zais’s experiences with the impoverished neighborhoods and poor families gave him a toughness he carried with him throughout his time in service, and a “compassion for people who did not have much.” This combination of compassion and toughness is what the soldiers of the 517th PRCT remembered of Major General Zais as they fought Italians and Germans through Italy, France, and Germany, or even when they met a couple unruly Rangers in a posh dance bar in Paris where Zais knocked the Rangers down, helped them back up, and then bought them a drink. Over the years, he matured from a young, tough junior officer, to a more mature, yet still tough senior officer, willing to make the hard decisions when required. His capacity for handling difficult decisions and maintaining a professional bearing were highlighted during the Battle of Hamburger Hill when he continued the engagement and piled on reinforcements, and in his diplomatic handling of a reporter who was a little too nosey in second guessing Zais’s decisions regarding Hamburger Hill. Overall, Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais was a hardened professional soldier, counted on by his subordinates, peers, and seniors to make the right decisions in difficult situations, but with the necessary compassion to ensure he took care of his men without sacrificing what was necessary to accomplish the mission. From World War II to Vietnam, Zais compiled experience and judgment to add depth and clarity to his decisions. Little did he know his experiences in southern France would revisit him through doctrine, the enemy situation, and terrain in an isolated part of the A Shau Valley in Vietnam. Doctrine during WWII The success of the 517th PRCT in southern France can be contributed to the personal identification and selection of qualified soldiers, their airborne training, and the study and application of doctrine its officers used during the planning and execution of operations. Field Manual 100-5 (FM 100-5), Operations, and Field Manual 70-10 (FM 70-10), Mountain Operations, both published in 1944 are examples of doctrine that provided the leadership of the 517th PRCT the capability to develop its understanding for a firm basis of action to react to enemy activities, maneuver, and capabilities. MailCall # 2363 Send news to [email protected] Page 8 of 14 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team FM 100-5 provided the airborne infantry officer with a fundamental understanding of what army officers should know in order to quickly react to situations they might encounter in combat.